Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
288. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the total number of students who have been asked to provide additional documents in order for their student grant application to proceed and the full list of the types of documentation that are being requested of these students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1217/13]
View answer289. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will list in full the types of documents that students are expected to provide along with their application for a student grant to Student Universal Support Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1218/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 288 and 289 together.
On submission of a grant application students progressing to the next stage of the assessment process are issued with a checklist of documentary evidence which they need to provide in order to complete their application. This checklist is tailored from the specific information provided on the student's application. The checklist outlines the supporting documentation required and where this documentation can be sourced.
On receipt of complete supporting documentation Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) can determine if the applicant satisfies the eligibility conditions for a student grant, which include nationality, residence, academic progression and means. The documentary evidence is necessary to verify the information provided by the student on their on-line grant application.
A full list of the documentary evidence that may be required is outlined in Schedule 5 of the Student Grant Scheme 2012 (S.I. No. 189 of 2012 refers).
SUSI may on receipt of this documentation require further additional documents to determine eligibility. This arises for a variety of reasons. It may emerge, as a result of the documentation provided, that something was omitted from the student's initial on-line application or that further clarification on information provided is needed. In a small number of cases it may emerge that a document that is needed in support of the application was not requested at provisional assessment stage. The Deputy will appreciate that in the context of SUSI having received in excess of 67,000 applications that some errors may inevitably arise when handling a high volume of applications within a relatively short timeframe.
Some 12,632 students have to date been asked to provide further additional documents to determine their eligibility for a student grant. This data has been provided to my Department by SUSI. It is understood that of these, some 6,775 students have returned the required documentation while some 5,857 have yet to provide the additional documentation requested. The additional types of documentation that are being requested in these instances, are critical to establishing a student's eligibility to a grant, and can relate to any aspect of the Scheme, such as residency, nationality/immigration status, previous academic attainment but, predominantly, relates to means.
